Raphael Semmes, Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States

[691] of Beezee and Soubooko, the channel being only about a mile in width. Groves of cocoanut-trees grew near the beach on the former island, among which were some straw-thatched huts. From these huts, the natives, entirely naked, except a breech-cloth around the loins, flocked out in great numbers to see the ship pass. Ships do not often take this narrow channel, and the spectacle was, no doubt, novel to them. They made no demonstration, but gazed at us in silence as we flew rapidly past them. We ran through the Strait proper of Sunda, between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, passing to the westward of the island called Thwart-the-Way, and close to the Stroom Rock, lying with its blackened and jagged surface but a few feet above the water. This course carried us in full view of the little town and garrison of Anjer, but we saw nothing of the Wyoming. We found the Strait of Sunda as unguarded by the enemy, as we had found the other highways of commerce along which we had passed.

Just where the Strait debouches into the China Sea, we descried, in the midst of a rain-squall, to which we were both obliged to clew up our top-gallant sails, a tall clipper ship, evidently American. She loomed up through the passing shower like a frigate. We at once gave chase, and in a very few minutes hove the stranger to with a gun. It was the Winged Racer, which our English friend told us had passed out of the Strait some days before in his company. She had, lingered behind for some reason, and as a consequence had fallen into the power of her enemy, with no friendly gun from the Wyoming to protect her. The Winged Racer was a perfect beauty —one of those New York ships of superb model, with taunt, graceful masts, and square yards, known as ‘clippers.’ She was from Manilla, bound for New York, with a cargo consisting chiefly of sugar, hides, and jute. There was no claim of neutral property, and condemnation followed the capture as a matter of course. We anchored her near North Island, and came to, ourselves, for the convenience of ‘robbing’ her. She had sundry provisions on board—particularly sugar and coffee— of which we stood in need. She had, besides, a large supply of Manilla tobacco, and my sailors' pipes were beginning to want replenishing. It took us a greater part of the night—for night